In my own write..

RGV's Jana Gana Mana Controversy..

2009-05-08T00:00:00.008+05:30

Should RGV Have Tampered the National Anthem in Rann?

That's the question that has been on everyone's mind, ever since the promos of Ram Gopal Verma's latest flick Rann hit the airwaves.

A lot of hue and cry (by the media, quite obviously) has been raised over whether RGV should have twisted the actual words of the Indian National Anthem, which is otherwise considered to be sanctified and divine. There has also been talk about the imposition of a ban on the Jana Gana Mana song from the movie.

My question is, what sense does the National Anthem make to today's Indian? If we look back in History, the Indian National Anthem was first composed for King George V - the "Overlord of India's Destiny". It was never written with the idea that it would become India's National Anthem a few years later. A loose translation of the National Anthem goes as follows: (source : Wikipedia)

O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country,
in the Dravida country, Utkala and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters of Yamuna and Ganga
They chant only thy name.
They seek only thy auspicious blessings.
They sing only the glory of thy victory.
The salvation of all people waits in thy hands,
O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Victory to thee, Victory to thee, Victory to thee,
Victory, Victory, Victory, Victory to thee!

Keeping such a background in mind, I don't quite feel proud of our National Anthem. I might passionately sing out the National Anthem at a multiplex screen before the movie begins, and I might feel a tinge of pride in doing so; but deep within, I know that I sing only because it is my fundamental duty. The overwhelming pride, ironically, is mostly missing. The Constitution of India can direct the citizens to respect the National Anthem - that I shall comply with. But sadly, the Constitution of India cannot direct its citizens to take pride in singing the National Anthem.

So what if RGV re articulated the National Anthem and put in a few lines of his own? After taking a look at the promos of Rann, one realises that the in-your-face lyrics of the song from the movie are an apt reminder of the murky state of affairs in the country. I don't feel that by adding a few lines to the National Anthem and composing an altogether new song, RGV has shown any kind of disrespect towards the National Anthem.

In fact, in my opinion, the song must be looked at and treated as just another (hard-hitting) movie number, interspersed with lines from the National Anthem. And more or less, that's exactly what it is. I would call it an artiste's creative liberty at its very best. The imposition of a ban would imply the demise of free speech and individual opinion.

Lyrics:

Jana Gana Mana Rann hai..
Iss rann me, Zakhmi Bharat ka Bhagya Vidhaata..
Punjab Sindh Gujrat Maratha..
Ek doosre se lad ke mar rahe hain...
Iss desh ne humko ek kiya,
Aur hum desh ke tukde kar rahe hain..
Dravid Utkala Banga..!
Khoon bahakar ek rang ka, kar diya humne Tiranga,
Sarhadon pe jung aur, galiyon me fasaad-danga..
Vindh Himachal Yamuna Ganga, mein tezaab ubal raha hai,
Mar gaya sab ka zameer, Jaane kab zinda ho aage..
Phir bhi tava shubh naame jaage.. Tava shubha ashish maange..
Aag mein jal kar cheekh raha hai, Phir bhi koi nahi bachata..
Gaahe tava jaya gaatha..
Desh ka aisa haal hai lekin, Aapas me ladh rahe neta..
Jana Gana Mangal Dayak Jaya Hai..
Bharat ko bacha le Vidhata!
Jaya He! Ya yeh marann hai..
Jana Gana Mana Rann hai..

Go ahead and listen to the song. Digest the lyrics. And deep within, feel ashamed. Jai Hind. Or should I say Jaya He?

-HK
12:00 am; 8th May '09

25 Random..

2009-05-05T21:55:00.005+05:30

This is in response to Rupal's FaceBook note that she had tagged me on, ages ago. I had made a mental note to make my own list of 25 random things but I was too lazy to sit down and think of what to write. Finally, I gave in to the temptation of making such a list. (Thanks Sandhya, for the inspiration!) Here I go..

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.

1. I love my parents for naming me "Harshavardhan". I believe I could never have had a better name. Harshavardhan means ‘One who brings joy’. Different people call me Harshavardhan/ Kunte/ Harsh/ Hurshey/ Kuntz and HK. I prefer being called HK or Harshavardhan.

2. I consider myself to be full of life and energy. I believe that I generally spread positive energy all around. However, when I am low, I am not the best person to have around. There can be no one worse than me, then.

3. I walk with a swagger which makes people think that I might be a brash ba$tard. I love doing so, and I have been consciously working to perfect the "walk". I also wear this “Keep out of my way!” look on my face. I do it purposely, especially when I am among a group of people who I don’t know very well.

4. Those who meet me for the first time think of me as someone who is not too friendly.

5. There is always a perpetual frown on my face. Some people think I am worried about something all the time. Others think my face is made that way. I used to think otherwise. I always thought I had a smiling demeanor, until (to my utter dismay) I realized one day that it's a frown and not a smile that I generally wear.

6. I am extremely open minded. To the extent that I live with the risk of letting my brain fall out someday.

7. My parents (and my brother) have always lived by example and have put before me a set of principles to live by. I would never once go against or beyond this set of values.

8. I regard cleanliness and personal hygiene very highly. I absolutely DETEST smelly feet. And I hate it when people give me the excuse that had I stayed in an all-boys setup like a hostel, I would also have got used to such things. That's the lamest excuse anyone could ever give.

9. I am not always very meticulous. But I can be very neat and organized in my work.

10. I love power. And I absolutely LOVE to play God. I do feel power-hungry though I think I understand the immense amount of responsibility that comes bundled with it. And surprisingly, I don’t crave for power.

11. School days weren’t particularly the best days of my life. For quite some reasons I didn't enjoy my school days. Neither do I have too many fond memories.

12. My 4 years in college were by far the best days of my life. I lived life to the fullest and enjoyed myself immensely. Although, I did not take academics very seriously, looking back, I can say I have absolutely NO regrets! I did what my heart told me, and I enjoyed every moment of it!

13. I am an Internet freak. I can spend long hours scouring the Internet for stuff to download. I don’t know why, but watching the progress of a huge file being downloaded gives me a high. I’ve wasted countless ~~days~~ nights staring at the PC screen watching files getting downloaded. During my college days, I downloaded close to 700 GB of movies, games, music files and software from the Internet. And I’ve never felt guilty of indulging in online piracy.

14. I think I am a very keen observer. I generally observe (and confine to memory) just about anything and everything that I see around me. Having said this, I keenly observe body language, non-verbal cues, mannerisms and behaviors. It does give me a huge insight into different personality traits. When I look at someone, I try and look through that person.

15. Now this one is interesting: My first impression about anyone is always wrong. (This is probably why I don’t believe in love at first sight!).

16. I might seem to be extremely social and one who has a lot of friends, but when it comes to sharing things about me, I am very reserved. I generally don't open up very easily in front of people. I also don't trust someone very easily. I might take my time, but once I do, I don't think twice.

17. I love and respect my parents for all that they have done. They have always lived their lives to the fullest, with joy and by example. And there were never any half-measures. Never. And like all Koknastha parents, they always taught by telling us what not to do, rather than what to do.

18. I am a human first, and an Indian next. This is where all possible classification of individuals ends for me. Whether someone is an Indian or not; is from Maharashtra or UP or Bihar or some other place; whether he belongs to the "upper class" or he doesn’t; makes very less sense to me. More often than not, I don’t even think about it.

19. My typing speed is much much faster than my writing speed. Made to write fast, my handwriting gets illegible even for me to understand what I wrote. And even otherwise, my handwriting is awful.

20. I have to be kick-started to get me going. I wonder why I am so lazy.

21. I generally have an opinion about everything around me. Note that I wrote everything and NOT everyone.

22. I cry quite easily while watching movies. The public washroom scene from the movie 'The Pursuit of Happyness' makes me cry every time I watch the movie.

23. I do not possess an eye for art. I can NOT draw. I just can not. Neither can I dance – I attempted dance just once in college. I performed miserably and ended up giving “clumsy” an altogether new meaning. Since I am hopeless when it comes to being artistic, I make it a point to sincerely admire whatever piece of art I come across.

24. The only art form that I remotely understand is music. I love listening to alternative, unconventional music. Jazz, Piano, Instrumental, Ambient, Electronic are my favorite genres. I don’t particularly enjoy Rock and Metal.

25. One of the most difficult tasks for me has been gaining weight. I have tried everything that can be done to put on weight. I have resigned to the fact that I won’t be anything but skinny. Because I am thin and scrawny (scrawny – that’s JS’ word), I never even dreamt of riding a huge motorcycle. I am sometimes surprised at the considerable ease with which I can maneuver a 140 kg Honda Unicorn on the crowded roads of Pune.

Whoa! This was fun. More so because I did most of it while sitting in office :P

-HK
9:55 pm; 5th May '09.

A newer start.. :)

2009-03-14T22:27:00.000+05:30

It's been more than 4 months since I published my last post here. And back then I had talked about a new start in a new place.. Unfortunately, life dragged on in the months to follow, and I couldn't quite let my creative juices flow.

Life at Tech M was an altogether new experience. It was my first tryst with the corporate lifestyle. That I could not continue with Tech M for too long, is indeed unfortunate.

I was in Nagpur for a couple of weeks after I (was asked to) quit Tech M. A little introspection made me realize that I had done nothing constructive in the past few months. Wake up - go to office - come back - sleep is all that I did in my Tech M days. Looking back, I am ashamed of myself for having wasted so much time. I didn't read many books, I didn't write on my blog, I didn't meet up with old friends, I didn't go for too many outings, I didn't follow any sport, I didn't join any of the umpteen number of activity groups in Pune.. To cut it short, I didn't live life completely..

When I decided to return to Pune, I had made this resolve to myself, that in my second stint in Pune, I'll live a more complete and meaningful life. And I've been working on this very consciously.

Fortunately, the work at DIPL, my new workplace has been cool so far. Most importantly, there's no stress, and lI get a lot of time for other activities. I have been reading, writing, creating content for HR training sessions, listening to a lot of music and I also met up with a couple of old friends in the last couple of weeks:) :) And today I managed to rekindle the fire within.. The fire to write on the blog!

Tech M is a closed chapter for me. I am now looking ahead to growing as a professional at DIPL. And I am looking to consolidate on the personal front too :) I hope this second stint is far more satisfying and rewarding..

I will make sure that I write very regularly here from now on.. CHEERS!

-HK
10:30 pm; 14th March '09

A new place.. And a new start!!

2008-10-17T23:55:00.003+05:30

Finally!! I finally joined Tech Mahindra today. This has been one long wait, but the end (or should I say beginning?) came swiftly and as a huge surprise! As I went through the activities throughout the day, I kept my eyes and ears wide open for anything "interesting" and kept making mental notes of all that I saw or heard. I mainly did this because I knew that I would be writing a post here at the end of the day! :P Here's what I observed:

1. Pune city wakes up VERY late. At 9 in the morning, I couldn't find a single photocopy-shop open.
2. My first reaction after reaching the Tech M office: What if they cancel my joining and send me back? The mere thought terrified the hell out of me :D Initially I had butterflies in my tummy but the anxiety went away after a while.
3. My first reaction after entering the Tech M office: :O (The Orkut equivalent of this emoticon comes closest to how I felt at that time!)
4. On meeting Richa early in the morning: Ah I do know someone here!
5. My thoughts while we were being taken to the conference room: :O :O :O Goddamn this office is SO HUGE! And so utterly confusing too! If you want to get rid of someone, go with him to the Sharda Center Tech M office, give him the slip and quickly find your way out (DON'T attempt this, if you don't know your way around the place!). Chances are that the poor fellow might spend the entire day trying to find his way out. :P
6. Once I was inside the conference room, I quickly checked out the gals who were going to join with me. And I was disappointed. Holy shit! Not the holiest of starts!
7. The actual orientation began by around 10 am. We were instructed to fill out quite a lot of forms. The form-filling and subsequent document verification took more than 2 hours. In the meantime, we were briefed by various people. One thing that I would like to mention here: At Tech M, everyone seems to know Marathi exceedingly well. I was amazed at the ease with which the people who inducted us, spoke in Marathi. Call it the "Pune effect" or something else, but everyone seems to know Marathi here!
8. In the middle of our form-filling session, in walked a lady... (she didn't introduce herself.. Damn! She didnt.. :( I got a clue that she happened to be from the HR dept. ) I looked up and my eyes stayed fixed!! Beautiful! She made my day! Thankfully, she hung around for the rest of the day :P
9. After all the forms had been filled up and duly verified, we dispersed for lunch. In my bid to find the cafeteria, I got lost somewhere in the building! I called up Richa, and she bailed me out :P
10. Lunch was OK-ish. Not 5-star, but edible and tasty. Can't expect too much, when it's free! ;)
11. Post lunch, we gathered back to the conference room for the remaining orientation lectures and bank-account formalities. Tech M has a tie-up with Kotak Mahindra Bank (obviously) and IDBI. After the briefings by the executives of both these banks, I realized how badly (rather hopelessly) the Kotak M executives marketed their product and in contrast, how "effectively" the people from IDBi marketed theirs.
12. Post-lunch session was dull and boring. Just sat in one place, listened to the boring lectures and stared at the beautiful lady across the room ;)
13. Towards the end of the day I got my photo clicked. I'll get my employee ID card on Monday.
14. While leaving I came to this huge revolving glass door which I had to push, to get through. When it didn't budge, I shoved a bit harder... and once again, before a guy walked from behind me, swiped his ID card to open the door and let me through. I felt like a complete idiot!
15. Stupidity continued. I got lost again, while attempting to leave the building. I called up Richa, and poor thing had to hurry all the way down to find me wherever I was, and escort me out of the office :D

Day 1 in office was quite eventful. (I realized that this post sounds like a diary entry :P ) Looking forward to training from Monday. I hope I can keep up the tempo and enthusiasm. Wish me luck!

11:55 pm; 17th October '08

The Coup..

2008-10-16T17:15:00.001+05:30

When Shubhi wrote her To Pune post 10 days ago, I felt elated for her. After all, her frustrating yet patient, 3-month wait had come to an end. However, I also couldn't help feeling frustrated at my own plight. I knew that I had wasted more than 5 months just waiting for joining, but the actual gravity of the situation hit me only on 5th October. Call it mere frustration or peer pressure, but somehow, I was feeling very very shitty about myself. I realized that I HAD to start looking for employment soon.

My first target was Tech Mahindra. And rightly so. I knew that Shubhi's batch was going to have vacancies (and a substantial number, at that) owing to other commitments of some of those who had been asked to join. (Shubhada got her Date of Joining as 10th October '08 @ Pune) So over the last 10 days, I concentrated all my efforts into trying to get this across to the people at Tech M, that if there are vacancies, they ought to be filled up with people who were ready to join at a short notice. I tried to garner support by getting in contact with a few of my batch-mates, who like me, were waiting for their joining. I was optimistic about their support, but I was pissed off by the negative response that I got from a friend, whom I heavily relied upon. The e-mail he wrote to me oozed pessimism, and I realized that I had to get this thing going myself.

I spent the last 10 days talking to different people at Tech Mahindra. I also spoke to my T&P Officer and my HOD and urged them to forward the data (about the people who weren't joining) to the Tech M authorities. By yesterday (15th) morning, all my hopes of an early joining had dwindled. I thought to myself that I had done all that I could do to push things, but probably all this wasn't enough.

I had all but given up, until I got a call yesterday afternoon that my joining was on and that I have to report on 17th at Pune. I immediately left by the evening train and reached Pune this morning.

Here I would like to add a note for the skeptical minds: I got a few SMSs yesterday with people asking me whether I used some kind of "setting" to force my induction. Some even asked whether I used any "contacts" to push my candidature. Some are still smarting about how I could manage to swing things my way. I would like to alleviate any doubts about my use of power, or contacts or any setting... All I used was my head, my mouth and will. My head, to play out different strategies (my old buddy Boscii will be very proud of me for this!); my mouth to talk and put into action all that I thought about; and my will to doggedly push my point even when everyone around me was being negative and un-cooperative.

So to say, I am still dazed.. I still can't believe that I landed up in Pune at such short notice. Even as I stood at the station last evening, I remember having remarked to my friends that, I never expected that I would be standing in the doorway of a train coach waving out to my friends so soon. I thought I had at least 10 days or so before I left. Looking back, I realize how many people I wanted to meet before leaving, but could not do so. It happened all too quickly for me to understand. Maybe this is how my exit from Nagpur had been planned!

As I sat back in retrospection last evening, I couldn't help but ponder about a few things. Firstly.. Not all of what you have so meticulously planned, turns out (if at all if it does) the way you want it to.

And secondly.. When you want something..badly.. very badly.. Then the entire universe conspires in helping you to get it. This originally is Paulo Coelho's philosophy which he put forward in his book "The Alchemist". When I first read the book, I left it midway and I remember having mocked at the underlying essence of the book. Not anymore. I'll make it a point to read it this time!!

-HK
5:15 pm; 16th October '08

P. S.: A special word for Shantanu: Bhai..I guess you got the point.. It all happened far too quickly.. Sorry for not informing you..! :)

New theme - Bugs (IE related)

2008-10-13T23:55:00.001+05:30

It has been observed that this site shows errors (and throws up badly) when viewed in Internet Explorer (5+). From what I figured out, this is because of the JSON script that hides a part of the post.. Another script that's causing the site to throw up is the script that's handling the recent comments widget...

And I thought, I had finally addressed all the layout-related issues.. :(

Note: If you are using Internet Explorer by default, this site may not open up properly, and might even cause your browser to hold up and crash. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Kindly view this blog on either of the following browsers:

Firefox (All versions)
Opera (Tested on V9.51 onwards)
Google Chrome (no issues yet)
Maxthon (V1.6.5 onwards)

This site is best viewed on Firefox 2.0.0.17 with a screen resolution of 1024*768. I hope to sort out the IE-related issue by tomorrow morning.

-HK
11:55 pm; 13th October '08

New Look v2.0

2008-10-12T13:05:00.006+05:30

It's been some while since I wrote something here. Many reasons. One of them being that I was busy perfecting the look of this blog.

Complete lack of activity has meant that I have had all the time in the world to sit and experiment with different options to change the way I display stuff on this blog. And yet I'm miles away from making "that perfectly SEO-ed blog"!

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been trying to fathom all that Matt Cutts, the SEO-guru working at Google, writes on his blog. The attention has thus been on increasing crawlability, utilizing screen space effectively, cutting down on heavy graphics and yet maintaining simplicity of design. In this regard, surprisingly, Matt's blog is minimal yet information-rich.

Google Analytics is a fascinating piece of code from the Google stable. This blog has a limited audience of perhaps a few hundred hits a month, but the reports given by Analytics have been very helpful in understanding reader habits. The bounce rate on my blog has been shamefully high. I'm looking to arrest (and reverse) that trend in the days to go. There are other issues too, which I'll address in due course of time.

A lot of work is yet to be done. And thankfully, I have all the time in the world to do it!

-HK
1:05 pm; 12th October '08

A day in the wilds of Tadoba Tiger Reserve

2008-09-30T14:00:00.005+05:30

I had gone to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve for a day-long visit on 28th. I accompanied Dr. Arunkumar Kholkute, a retired veterinarian, (and a distant relative of mine) on his official visit. Dr. Kholkute was visiting the reserve to supervise the care being given to the female elephant there, who gave birth to a calf 5 days ago. So the 5-day old elephant calf was the main attraction of the visit!

We left at around 7:30 in the morning by car and covered the distance to Tadoba in little more than 3 hours. The journey was brought to life by Dr. Kholkute and his colorful monologue about his escapades in the forests of Tadoba, Nagzira and Pench during his career as a veterinary doc. He gave delightful insights about his life as a veterinarian and the different people (and animals!) that he encountered in his life. Although he did most of the driving, I took over control of the wheel on the jungle roads. Driving on the bumpy, dusty, narrow tracks was quite an experience and my palms still hurt from gripping the steering wheel. The weather was beautiful - perfect for an outing. A cool gentle breeze and bright sunshine accompanied us throughout the day.

Once we reached Tadoba (Mohorli village), we went off to see the elephant calf. The calf and her mother had been kept isolated, away from the prying eyes of the visitors, to avoid any disturbance and trouble to the young calf. No one was being allowed to see the calf; and hordes of visitors had returned disappointed that day. Even the local newspapers haven't been allowed to click photographs of the calf.

The doc proceeded with his routine check-up of the mother elephant and her calf, while I clicked photographs. I was seeing an elephant calf for the first time in my life and I was absolutely thrilled! Watching a shaky 5-day old elephant calf from so close was the last thing I had ever imagined! As I clicked photos, the mother kept a close watch on me and reminded me to stay off. She maintained good distance between me and the calf by occasionally swaying her trunk to push me back whenever I got over-zealous.

Photos: © Harshavardhan Kunte

After the check-up was over, we proceeded on a jungle safari. We went in the Forest Rangers' official jeep. I later realized that had we taken our own car inside the jungles, every part of it would have come off because of the bumpy ride. The rickety contraption choked, coughed and spluttered before roaring to life. We left in earnest hope of sighting the tiger.

I had been to Tadoba last year too and the big cat had eluded us then as well. But this time, we had hardly gone 500 metres into the woods before we sighted a beast that from a distance looked like a tiger! At first I thought it was a dog, but on giving it a closer look, we realized that it was a leopard. It was walking away from us on the dusty road. The driver killed the engine of the jeep and allowed the jeep to roll down the road. I was too dazed to point my camera and start shooting. I was shaken back to my senses and I quickly managed to capture the giant beast on camera. It was the shot of a lifetime! Our jeep creaked as it rolled on, and the leopard kept glancing back to gauge the distance between us. I managed to click a couple of photos and a video (albeit shaky) as I dangled out of the jeep. As soon as the leopard judged that we were too near for his comfort, he leapt into the bushes and was gone in a trice. We were later told by the mahouts and guards that sighting a leopard is rarer than sighting a tiger at Tadoba.

Tiger or leopard; I was thrilled at having sighted a big cat out in the wild. I had been lucky second time round! We roamed around on the bumpy jungle roads for a good hour or so in search of the tiger, but we weren't lucky to spot one.

We returned to the base camp at Mohorli in time for lunch. After lunch , we started on our return journey back to Nagpur. On the way, we decided to get adventurous and drove in our car on one of the jungle trails. It was late in the afternoon - the time when a tiger sets out for hunting. We went along on the lookout for the tiger. A short while later we came to a spot where we heard a "call" from the monkeys. I was told that monkeys on trees give out "calls" to deer and other small animals about predators on the prowl, or other impending dangers. We stopped there for a good half an hour with bated breath and in complete silence, expecting a tiger to spring out from the bushes. Maybe there wasn't an animal there, or maybe the beast had been put off by our presence, but our patient wait drew a blank.

We left from there and again a short while later, we heard "calls" from monkeys and birds. We could also see vultures circling overhead in the sky. The foul stench of an animal hung heavy in the air. And suddenly, we heard the cry of a chital (barking deer) from the bushes nearby. We peered closer to see a quivering deer in the bushes. We waited for a long while in utter silence, expecting a feline to return, but again our wait proved futile. Perhaps our presence put off the animal. A thought crossed my mind about how much we humans were encroaching on the space of these beasts. Human interference has definitely disturbed the lives of animals in the wild.

Dejected at not having sighted a tiger, we got back on the road to Nagpur. I would like to mention a few words here about Dr. Kholkute. Dr. Kholkute served as a veterinary doctor with the Forest Rangers in areas around Nagpur. He spent long periods of his career working as a doctor in the forests of Nagzira, Bor, Tadoba and Pench. Dr. Kholkute possesses a very colorful personality and has the ability to add life to any discussion. His sense of humour and witty remarks make his company all the more enjoyable. His PR skills when he deals with the forest personnel are worth learning from. He can communicate with personnel of the Forest Rangers right from the Range Officer to the illiterate mahout in such a manner, that he endears himself to both of them. During the visit I learnt one thing from him - Never flinch, not even once, when drinking the water that they offer.

We were back in Nagpur by around 8:30 pm. This, in all probability was my last visit to Tadoba, and I managed to bring back some really fond memories of that place. I'll look forward to visiting Tadoba again, whenever I get time in the future.

-HK
2:00 pm; 30th September '08

What's the ruckus for?

2008-09-28T23:22:00.006+05:30

I hate discussing cricket. We have an entire nation that thrives on discussions about the game. I hate discussing cricket, not because I can't understand the sport, but because I find the activity absolutely futile. The point that I intend to put forward in this post, is beyond the game. Understand this, and then proceed.

Of late there has been a hue and cry in the Indian media about Greg Chappell's role as assistant coach during Australia's current tour of India. Greg Chappell is expected to stay with the Australian cricket team till the end of their tour of India; and assist the Aussies in adapting to the conditions and develop their game plan.

Over the last week, the Indian media has gone to town, alleging that Greg Chappell has switched loyalties and acted unprofessionally. It is very well known that the Indian media survives on controversy and that they will blow any news out of proportion to derive maximum mileage in the form of increased audience and TRP ratings.

The media has alleged that Chappell might pass on vital information about the Indian players and playing conditions to the Aussies; which will benefit them immensely. It must be recollected that Greg Chappell was the coach of the Indian national cricket team for 2 years from 2005 to 2007. The media has harped about Chappell's unprofessional ways and has gone to the extent of terming him a "traitor" to India.

I don't see anything wrong in Greg Chappell working with the Aussies, after working as coach of the Indian cricket team. What the media needs to understand is that Greg Chappell has not acted unprofessionally in any way. He had signed a contract with the BCCI as the national coach for a stipulated period of time, and fulfilled his duties to the best of his abilities. That his tenure was marked by controversies, is another issue. Once Chappell quit his duty as the national coach, he was free to move on and join any other job of his choice. That he chose to work with the Aussies for the forthcoming tour, might have implications that he might have done so for vendetta; but then this doesn't imply that he has been unprofessional in any way.

Moreover, what if Chappell does pass on vital information about Indian players to the Aussies? In the end, once the game starts it shall all boil down to what happens in the middle. Any amount of planning is rendered ineffective once the first ball is bowled.

Here, I would like to draw your attention to India's present national cricket coach - Gary Kirsten. Kirsten took over as Indian coach at the beginning of 2008. Interestingly, his first full assignment was against the the South African team that had toured India for a test and ODI series in March 2008. Ironically, the same Indian media at that time had chattered about Gary Kirsten's presence in the Indian dressing room and how his insights about the South African players would benefit the Indians. Where had all the bullshit about loyalty and "professionalism" gone then? Even then, the South African media had not whined about Kirsten's role with the Indian side.

That the Indian media shows such double standards when dealing with individuals and events, is indeed a shame. The mediamen need to learn some professionalism themselves. Else, they'll end up getting the middle finger more often from people like Greg Chappell; which they truly deserve.

-HK
11:20 pm; 28th September '08

The new template is finally up! And running!

2008-09-27T22:01:00.004+05:30

It's taken really long. A month to be precise. But I'm happy at the outcome.

I picked up this template (the current one) from a free wordpress themes website and changed the theme code to make it compatible with blogger. It wont be correct on my part to take credit for either the layout or the code. All I did was that I slogged hard, acted smart, and brought together hundreds of code snippets and put them in the correct places to get the final outcome. It was like piecing together one huge jigsaw puzzle having photographs of different characters! And after the puzzle was complete, I erased out characters that I didn't want to see, and put in a few of my own!! It has been one big mix-and-match exercise.

Here, I would like to acknowledge the help that I got from websites around the world-wide-web.

1. CSSPlay: For all CSS-related issues; Drop-Down Menu. When it comes to CSS, Stu Nicholls is God!
2. Beautiful Beta: For Blogger-Posts related issues.
3. Looks Good Works Well: For good web-design tips.
4. phydeaux3: For random wordpress-templates related problems.
5. Web Designs Tips and Tricks: For all my "silly" (And not-so-silly) doubts related to HTML and CSS.
6. http://seo.vintip.com/ - For SEO-related and Google adsense related problems and virtually every other query.
7. Mr. Matt Cutts - For his SEO-related tips.
8. Last but not the least - GOOGLE!

In fact, if I compiled all that I read from the above mentioned links, it would make the most comprehensive "Build Your Own Blogger Template" tutorial. I'll also add an elaborate post about how I went around building the template.

I call myself a software engineer. If I could say that there was a design model that I followed for developing this website, I'd call it the chiwda model! The requirements kept changing almost every hour.. The designing took far longer than it should have. And the testing hasn't quite been comprehensive. In short, I decided the requirements, designed the code; and did the testing: all by myself. So there might be quite a few issues that I overlooked and didn't address.

A special thanks to Tejas for helping me out in testing the template on IE and Firefox for basic issues. Shubhada looked over the content of the site (especially the header) and helped me in finalizing it.

The last couple of weeks came across as quite a revelation for me. I realized that I can be creative. Very creative. But only if I want to, for, I can be more lazy than I can be creative!

God lies in the smaller detail.. someone has rightly said. So in my opinion, this website isn't still complete. However, today I am pushing it live because I have already exceeded my deadline by more than 10 days! Coming up with something that is perfect and flawless is one thing, and taking ages to do so is quite another. I'll add other stuff in the next couple of days.

-HK.
10:00 pm; 27th September '08

P. S.: Please let me know, if you find dead links, or if pages don't load up, especially when attempting to write comments.

Mother India loses a brave son

2008-09-19T22:19:00.005+05:30

In the wake of the serial blasts at New Delhi, information was received from intelligence inputs that a bunch of suspected terrorists was putting up inside a residential block in South Delhi's Jamia Nagar.

A police picket comprising of 20 policemen headed by Delhi police's best man, Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma reached the place to apprehend the suspected terrorists. The holed up suspects opened fire in which Inspector Sharma was grievously injured. After 8 traumatic hours, Inspector Sharma lost his battle with life.

The safety, honour and welfare of your country, come first, always and everytime.
The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command comes next.
Your own ease, comfort and safety comes last, always and every time.

This is the credo of the Indian Army, which every Indian soldier adheres to, throughout his life. Although Inspector Mohan Chand wasn't a soldier of the Indian Army, he was a brave son of mother India and he valiantly laid down his life for her cause.

That Inspector Sharma didn't bother for his own life or safety speaks volumes about his courage. Throughout his career he was decorated with a number of gallantry medals including the President's medal. That he is not any more, must be a huge setback for the Delhi Police.

With the encounter that took place in Jamia Nagar today, the police snuffed out two dreaded terror suspects and nabbed a third, while two suspects managed to flee the scene. Moreover, after this encounter the Delhi Police have quite a few questions to answer.

Firstly, why was Inspector Sharma not wearing a bullet-proof vest during the operation? Is it that Delhi Police could not provide enough bullet-proof vests for 20 individuals?

Secondly, Inspector Sharma was a part of the Special Cell in Delhi and he and his team were on a special operation to nab suspected terrorists. Was the police team in any way under-prepared for the operation? After all the police were dealing with terror suspects and not petty criminals. That the police team went without adequate protective gear, itself makes it apparent that they weren't expecting the group of suspects to open fire.

The top cops from Delhi police need to answer these questions immediately. After all, India has lost a valiant and sincere policeman with a blemishless career record.

I pray to the almighty Lord to bless Inspector Sharma's soul. May his soul rest in peace. May God also provide his family with immense courage to cope with the loss in this hour of crisis. The need of the hour is for all the Indians to show their solidarity with the kin of the deceased soldier.

-HK
10:15 pm; 19th September '08

Links: Delhi encounter timeline

Life's little pleasures!

2008-09-18T23:55:00.002+05:30

Since I have nothing to do nowadays, owing to the postponement of my joining date at Pune, I have been coming up with different ways to pass time and keep myself occupied. After thoroughly having enjoyed four very eventful years of college, the last 4-odd months have been very very boring, to say the least.

What can I do today...? This question did not crop up in my mind even once in the last four years! Every single day brought something new for me to look forward to, and every day was different in its own way. No use crying now, but life isn't the same anymore. It has been an awkward shift from the kind of schedule that I used to follow when I was in college. Nowadays I have to think of ways to kill time!

I had realized a long time back that staying at home in the evening was next to impossible for me. After Bhaskar and Santa went along their own respective ways, my evening time outings almost stopped. How much I now miss those bakar sessions that we used to have at CCD!

Quite often these days I go off on my bike for a spin around the city in the evening. Generally, the pleasure of riding the bike is accompanied with Yanni's compositions. Today evening was no different, as I drove around aimlessly on the roads and Yanni rendered his choicest songs into my ears. It was then that I realized how much pleasure Yanni's songs gave to the listener. Driving a Honda is a wonderful experience in itself. Couple this with a Yanni rendition, and the result is orgasmic! I had to fight really hard to keep myself from closing my eyes!
I started thinking of similar experiences that I had experienced previously. Life's little pleasures I prefer to call them...

I remember, during WAD last year, I used to get back home from college at around 1 in the night. WAD was held in December and the weather was really cold at that time. After getting back home, I used to step into the bathroom to have a hot-water shower. After an extremely long and exhausting day, the feel of the hot water on the body used to feel heavenly! Although the eyes used to droop, I used to feel like staying in the bath forever! For the first time in so many years, I understood what it meant to have a solar water heater at my disposal. I could take a nice long shower on late chilly night without having to bother about heating water in a geyser!

I also remember returning home from college (sigh) on many a wet August evenings; drenched to the skin. The inviting aroma of hot tea laced with adrak was all that was needed to make me forget the disgusting experience of getting wet in the rain. (Yes, I hate getting wet). Talk of tea, and how can I not mention coffee? Even the whiff of coffee can work wonders for me. A cup of hot coffee is all one needs to cheer me up!

This summer, after many many years, I was back to sleeping on the terrace beneath the stars and the open sky. The feeling, as you lie down on the mattress that has been dampened by dew in the air is amazing. The cool breeze, after a hot and sultry day feels heavenly on the skin and and the gentle breeze puts you to sleep almost instantly. Ummm..heaven!

There are many more such "little pleasures" that life has gifted me with. Writing at length about all of them wouldn't be possible for me. Playing with my neighbours' grand daughters Renuka, Pallavi and Aarya.. Eating an entire Sizzling Brownie all by myself(!).. Getting a phone call from an old friend when I was least expecting it.. I can go on forever thinking of such things!! :)

-HK
11:55 pm; 18th September '08

In transition..

2008-09-17T07:45:00.005+05:30

I was very excited when I stumbled upon the "Hobbit" theme that I am currently using. I tried playing around with the source of the template to sort out spacing issues, but since most of the spacing has been resolved using graphic images, there was very less that I could change without actually replacing the images. The problem with the current template is that a lot of space is being wasted. Moreover, the blog looks horrible on a widescreen monitor.

I scoured the Internet for new templates, and found one to my liking. I am extremely fussy about the kind of look for my webspace. I specifically searched for something that was classy and elegant, yet simple. I definitely didn't want to shock my readers with gaudy greens, purples, pinks, and blues. I understand and I've experienced how badly the retinae can hurt; when bad graphic is thrown at you!

I encountered a few problems with the font, so I took a screenie and uploaded the header as an image. I am still working on the remaining issues. The CSS and HTML gyaan that I took over the last few weeks came in handy, and I could figure out the spacing and layout issues quite easily. I am now working on the javascript issues and a few post and commenting related problems. I'll switch to the new template as soon as I am done with all that I'm looking for.
I guess this post explains my absence from the blogging front over the last couple of weeks. I'll come up with something new very soon!

-HK
7:45am; 17th September '08

P. S.: Sneak peek of the new template

Why I love Google.. :)

2008-09-05T23:00:00.005+05:30

Google, with its latest launch Google Chrome has leapt into the ever-raging browser war. Over the last four years Mozilla corporation's Firefox browser managed to capture a fifth of the usage share among all web browsers, second only to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Although Internet Explorer still continues to be the most widely-used browser, the latest foray by Google into the browser segment, will help the venture to tighten their grip on the WWW.

Over the years, Google has come up with really fantastic ideas and products. The Google Search Engine is widely used all across the world. I use the search engine for searching for practically anything that I want to know about..

Ctrl+T.. TAB.. *Type*.. Return..

.. is all that I need, to start reading abut stuff that I want to know about. The google search engine is virtually my life-line. I scoured through the browsing history on my browsers (Mozilla/ Opera/ G-Chrome) and observed that, on an average I fire a search query on google.com 30 to 35 times everyday! Be it searching for the meaning/ synonym of a new word; or info about a movie on imdb.com; or the timing of a movie show at Inox or Cinemax; or following the latest news in the blogging circles: google.com is my best companion for all these activities!

Among websites under the Google umbrella, orkut.com is my favourite online hang-out! People who know me, also know how much time I spend in orkutting. Of late, blogger.com is another site which I visit very regularly, because it hosts this blog of mine. Youtube.com is another favourite for viewing video content.

Google triggered a revolution of sorts, by providing free online storage for data. My gmail inbox presently has close to 2 GB of data & I have uploaded photos and videos amounting to more than 1 GB to my web albums. In fact, when gmail service was launched on 1st April 2004, they announced a free e-mail service with a capacity of 1 GB. A majority of the netizens took this to be an April-Fools Day joke, before they realized that Google was serious about what it declared! One GB of *free* online storage space was hard to believe just 4 years ago!

Picasa is an excellent photo editing software from Google, that provides all the features and filters required for basic graphic editing. The best part about picasa is its simple interface and its ease of use. Google Earth is another awesome piece of software that I use regularly. Who could imagine fifteen years ago that it would be possible to view any place on the earth, detailed down to the specific street and house? All this for free, on the screen of your personal computer at the mere click of a button! This *encore* has been possible, thanks to Google Earth and Google Maps.

A few months ago, when I was working on my final year project, we found it extremely convenient to use Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets to create documents pertaining to the project. Along with Docs and Spreadsheets, we used to chat with each other using Google Talk. Since we worked on Google docs, the data could be viewed and edited simultaneously by 5 of us, and we didn't need to e-mail updated versions of the file to each other repeatedly. I found this application extremely useful. In times to come, Google Office products could pose very stiff competition to the Microsoft Office suite and similar stand-alone applications.

Google doesn't believe in merely quelling competition but in annihilating any hint of it. Google's business strategies have been laudable and all their efforts are planned and implemented with the sole aim of establishing a monopoly of sorts in the web-based services sector. The manner in which Google aggressively bid for, and acquired several small companies is commendable. Youtube, Blogger, Picasa, Google Earth, Google Docs etc were all acquired by Google from smaller companies. Google's primary motive behind entering into partnerships with SUN/ AOL etc was to establish a stronger platform to provide online services, and to weaken Microsoft's stranglehold on the web-solutions sector.

One of the major reason, in my opinion, for the resounding success of Google, is that all its services have been free and easily available for everyone to use.

Amidst all the pluses, what I find extremely annoying (the only minus that directly affects me) about google.com is that they surreptitiously monitor browsing habits and content usage. This data is then used to bombard the user with advertisements pertaining to the content that had been searched for. On umpteen occasions I have noticed that my spam folder in gmail has e-mails with content related to keywords that I searched for, in the immediate past. A simple way that I use, to overcome this nuisance is to regularly delete the browser cache and cookies.

All said and done, Google today defines how people use the Internet more efficiently and to their benefit. Over the years, Google has added an altogether new dimension of its own to the ever-widening world-wide-web. So to say, I'm (feeling) Lucky to be a part of this era of the Internet!! Google, I love you!

-HK
11:00 pm, 5th September '08

P.S.: This post is a part of my blog hosted on blogger.com. I accessed blogger.com from the Google Chrome browser. I used Picasa to edit the image and to upload it to my web album. And in preparing this post, I used the google.com search service 17 times!

Also read: Complete List of Google Products and Services

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

2008-09-04T00:27:00.006+05:30

It is that time of the year again! Ganpati Bappa has paid His yearly visit to his devotees. The next ten days to come shall see joyous revelry all around.

Ganpati Puja at my place is relatively a low-key afair. The Puja was done in the morning today, and we'll bid farewell to the almighty tomorrow evening. In all, a 36-hour affair! We are Kokanasthas, you see... We believe in being practical and hence we like to keep things simple and without all the frills! :) In fact, Ganpati Puja at my place is over and done with, long before the social spirit of the festival sets in!

The coming month seems to be an absolute delight for the food connoisseur. I immensely enjoyed hogging down Puran Polis a few weeks ago. Today I feasted on Modaks. Moreover, the Muslim month of Ramzan started yesterday. Ramzan for me, is synonymous with going to Mominpura in the evenings to feast on the yummiest Chicken Tikka and Shami Kababs! Damn.. I'm suddenly feeling very very hungry!!

It makes me realize how *lucky* I am to still be in Nagpur. At least I have been able to enjoy all the festivities for one last time!

-HK
12:20 am; 4th September '08

GVC - Dhamasaan Kudi Part 7

2008-09-02T20:58:00.005+05:30

Recap: The pow-wow continues in the toilet at Cinemax complex where the slug-fest is still on. A lot of startling revelations have been made.. Who we thought was the hunky Krissh, turned out to be a wannabe wimp named Harman Baweja, whose only claim to fame is that he is the ~~doggy~~ boyfriend of flop actress Priyanka Chopra. Finally, the all-powerful Rajnikant is summoned to try and over-power Virussata and bring back normalcy. Virussata's fling-mate Jaissata is deceived and made to come to the Cinemax complex toilet.

Here, Dhamasaan Kudi decides to distract Virussata using Jaissata, so that Rajnikant can first procure the antidote with his famous Gun... She holds Jaissata tightly, as if hugging him...Virussata shouts, with jealousy dripping from his words . . .

Part One. Author: Saumya
Part Two. Author: Shubhada
Part Three. Author: HK
Part Four.Author: Saumya
Part Five. Author: Shantanu
Part Six. Author: Shubhada

Part 7:

"Let go of of my darling", thundered Virussata, as he struggled to let go of Rajnikant's iron grip. But Rajnikant's grip is tighter than the tightest vise. Virussata kept struggling to free his hand.

At the other end, Dhamasaan Kudi hugged Jaissata so tightly, that it made made him throw up. Poor guy, he had been drinking when he was summoned to the Cinemax Loo. Poor Dhamasaan Kudi was covered in his puke instantly. Her body was now an obnoxious concoction of the most unpleasant smells in the world. Her powers were dwindling rapidly.. This made her extremely vulnerable to any attack by Virussata..

In the meanwhile, Aaj Tak came to know about the "encounter" that was under way at the loo. Within minutes the Aaj Tak team swooped down on Cinemax complex to cover the stink-operation. They tried inserting their ~~tools~~ equipment through any hole that they could find in the door/ walls. Finally, the team started broadcasting on air, with their cameras thrust through the exhaust-fan ducts and the key-hole on the door.

Dhamasaan Kudi's temper had reached boiling point. Rather than relying on her extra-ordinary powers, she now had to use her presence of mind to outwit Virussata. Virussata, in the meanwhile, was still struggling to let go of Rajnikant, who in turn was running his hand over Virussata's bum, trying to find the bottle of antidote. Virussata misinterpreted Rajnikant's intention, and instead thought that he was trying to play hanky-panky. But at the same time, he was finding it exceedingly pleasurable too. He leaned forward, nuzzling in closer to Rajnikant, and made a rough attempt to kiss him.

Rajnikant was taken aback by this sudden action from Virussata, but in the *heat* of the moment, he too got carried away. What followed was a long, moist, passionate, sloppy lip-lock. Our poor Raj was unaware that national TV was beaming grainy footage of the canoodling duo. The "Hero of the Masses" was gay, it was thus revealed!

Bewildered by the rapid turn of events, Dhamasaan Kudi let out a piercing shriek. At that very instant, the lights too went off. Come on folks! This is Nagpur, and load-shedding is commonplace, isn't it? Dhamasaan Kudi couldn't see properly in the dark, owing to her reduced powers. Jaissata was sozzled to realize quickly what the other two men were up to. The only sounds in the loo were the the slurps of the kissers, and the distant beeps of the Aaj Tak cameras!

BUT.. Somewhere in the distance, Makkadman picked up Dhamasaan Kudi's wail. (He has a Du-Kaan too! He and Dhamasaan Kudi were chuddy-buddies, you see!!) Actually he and Krissh (the original, this time) were racing each other in the air, when the lights went out; and the two owing to reduced visibility they couldn't sight the "Nazar Hati, Durghatna Ghati" sign board, and whammed into the Shaheed Gowari Flyover. Makkadman was brought to his senses by his beeping Du-Kaan that picked up Dhamasaan Kudi's wail. He and Krissh rushed to Cinemax.

The lights inside the loo still hadn't come on. The generator at Cinemax ran out of fuel 10 days ago, and owing to a shortage of diesel supply, it could not be re-filled. A confused Dhamasaan Kudi, was trying to think of a way out of the mess that she was in. Virussata and Raj were still engrossed in each other, and their grunts and groans got louder with every passing moment. Jaissata was mumbling away profanities, since he had by now realized that the other two were having fun (!) at his expense.

Suddenly Dhamasaan Kudi picked up a strange sound... Piss.. Pisss.. Pissss... At first she thought it was Jaissata tinkling in the loo-pot. But then she realised..It was Makkadman!! Her best buddy had come to her rescue!!! He and Krissh made their way in through the window.

In the meanwhile, things in the loo got steamy and passion overflowed. Virussata ~~humped~~ dumped Jaissata and he and Rajnikant professed their love for each other. The duo instantly broke into a song sequence.

Virussata: Saat ajoobe is duniya mein aathaveen apani jodi..
Rajnikant: Saat ajoobe is duniya mein aathaveen apani jodi..
Together: Are tode se bhi toote na yeh RAJ-Veer ki jodi..~ ~ !!

They shimmied across the toilet floor as they put up a Fun-Dance in the Sandaas. Makkadman and Krissh, overawed by what they were seeing, resigned themselves to the situation. They sat on the toilet seats, their faces clasped in their palms. The song sequence ended, with Raj and Viru piled upon each other; rolling from one end of the toilet to the other.

By now, Jaissata had regained his control, and enraged by what unfolded before his eyes, he picked up a broken bathroom pipe and lunged forward to land a blow on Rajnikant's head. But since the two were rolling over each other, what happened instead, was that the thwack lands smack on Virussata's ~~crack~~ bum. It caused the antidote bottle to break and the liquid gushed out, on Virussata's pant.

Ayyo! Rajnikant realised (albeit too late) that it is shit that he was smelling since so long!! He unlatched himself from Virussata and recollected the motive that had brought him to the Cinemax Loo. It was still dark all around.

Krissh then thought that he had had enough. He decided to take control of the situation. He walked to the middle of the loo and growled loudly. He beat his chest and bellowed even more loudly. Makkadman asked him, why he was yapping, to which Krissh disclosed that he was trying to light up the fire in his belly!! After a series of growls the fire lit up, and came out of his mouth (thankfully, the other end was stuffed because of the trouble that Skank had inflicted!) Virussata, Jaissata, Rajnikant and Dhamasaan Kudi were momentarily blinded by the massive spark from the dark! Dhamasaan Kudi's attention turned to Krissh and she was swept off her feet! Virussata lunged forward at Krissh and a fight ensued. Makkadman got into a fisticuff with Jaissata. Rajnikant went off to search for his gun which he remembered he had kept safely in a urinal. Yenna Rascala.. FIND IT!

Dhamasaan Kudi was clapping loudly, cheering on Krissh and Makkadman, when suddenly Virussata landed a powerful blow on Krissh's face which caused his mask to tear. Dhamasaan Kudi's heart skipped a beat. Virussata continued to rain blows on Krissh. It seemed as if Krissh was losing his powers too. Virussata banged Krissh's head on the toilet floor. He dragged him across to the toilet bowl and dunked his head into the shit-pot. He continued to do this repeatedly and was gaining sadistic pleasure in doing so.

And then suddenly, as if by magic, Krissh shrugged off Virussata with a mighty shove. The Pant-T which Dhamasaan Kudi had thrown into the lake was showing its effect!! The whiff of Pant-T seemed to have invigorated Krissh!!

He stood up and gave Virussata a sound thrashing. In the meanwhile, Makkadman had shoved Jaissata out of the loo. Outside, Jaissata suddenly found a lot of microphones being thrust into his mouth. The media had hounded him!

Inside, Dhamasaan Kudi started working up her spells again as she found her powers returning. Krissh continued his bashing of Virussata. Dhamasaan Kudi worked up a spell on Virussata that made him shrink in size. She also uttered spells to produce more Unn-Dees, to do away with the stench all around.

Krissh, in the meanwhile had fallen for our Dhamasaan Kudi. He realized that the best way to win her heart was by slaying Virussata. He shoved Virussata into the toilet bowl with all his might. First his head disappeared, then his arms, then his arse. Finally just his legs stuck out, and within seconds they too were thrust in. Dhamasaan Kudi walked up besides Krissh. She threw a few Unn-Dees and Pant-Tees into the shit-bowl and pulled the flush. There was a muffle.. A glug.. A few bubbles.. And in a moment, Virussata had been flushed into obscurity!!

Dhamasaan Kudi looked at Krissh. He gazed deep into her eyes and knew she had been won! The two clasped each others hand, leaned forward and shared a long passionate Kissh. (When two super-heroes locked lips, it was called a "kissh")

The dusht Virussata had been slayed by her knight in shining armour! Krissh too was happy for having found the girl of his dreams! The people of Nagpur city were rejoicing too. After all, the city had got a new high profile Jamaai Raja!

-HK
8:40 pm, 2nd September '08

P. S.: Congratulations! You are still alive if you are reading this line. My apologies to you for dishing out such stupid humour. I repeat, I didn't do it voluntarily but was pushed by Saumya and Shubhada into writing all this crap.

Note: The above piece of text was written with the sole aim of creating ~~crass~~ humour. I apologise, if it unknowingly hurt anyone's feelings and sentiments. All characters depicted in the above text were a fiction of the author's imagination and do NOT bear any resemblance to any individual, dead or alive.

D. Kudi Part 7 delayed :(

2008-09-01T20:57:00.000+05:30

I am extremely sorry for the inexplicable delay in putting up the next part in our Dhamasaan Kudi series. I was occupied in college since yesterday and couldn't get the time to type the ending to the story... I'm working on it and I'll post the last part asap.. Watch out!!

-HK
1st September '08

Group Virtual Creation - Dhamasaan Kudi Part three

2008-08-30T01:12:00.015+05:30

Warning: It was past 12:00 in the night, when the idea of writing this ~~shit~~ stuff came to my mind. What follows, is absolutely mindless and senseless stuff. Reader discretion is expected while reading this text. The views expressed here, are my own, and have been written with the sole aim of creating ~~crass~~ humour. I apologise, if it unknowingly hurts anyone's feelings and sentiments.

Continuing with the story...

Read part one here. Author: Saumya.

Read part two here. Author: Shubhada.

Recap: So the people appealed to Dhamasaan Kudi to come & save them from this virus.
Dhamasaan Kudi first requested people to switch to Linux as their operating system so that their PCs are safe. (Linux is immune to viruses) & as far as biological solution was concerned, she needed time. . .

but how much time? somehow she had to stop Virussata or at least distract him till she found an antidote for Skank. . .

distraction? hmmm.... D. Kudi is into a soup...

Part three.. Action!

In a soup Dhamasaan Kudi definitely was... She had to think of something to negate the effect of Skank. And she had to think fast...

In the meantime, Skank was wrecking havoc all over the place... People were slowly coming to terms with the (ill) effects of the virus. The filth was spreading all around. People with smelly over- ~~sized~~ stuffed pants could be seen all around. They covered their noses with attar and perfume sprayed handkerchiefs to keep away the stench. People who had been severely affected by the virus were finding it difficult to keep their pants from slipping off. BUT! When they attempted to change their pants, it clamped on tightly to their ~~bums~~ bottoms, and refused to come off!

The harried citizens were having a tough time doing their work. Most of their time, they were either clutching on to their pants, or holding a handkerchief against their noses. Absolutely nothing seemed to be normal any longer..

The effect on the computing front was slowly receding, owing to quick measures taken by the vigilant citizens in switching over to Linux. Although those who were reluctant to switch over to Linux had double trouble on their hands. Dusht Virussata also had been working overtime and had improvised on that front.. His spells and chants had worked up an evil, that was causing people to soil their pants even more.

Far away, on her own, Dhamasaan Kudi was working away furiously in her hideout. She knew that she was close to achieving a breakthrough.. She had been working in consultation with her chuddy-buddy Makkadman, and had unveiled Virussata's sinister plans to take over the G-lobe, which happened to be a giant protrusion on the (back) side of the galaxy and which was known to support life.

Virussata knew there was only one person who stood between him and the most coveted crown.. And that person was Dhamasaan Kudi.. He had to get her out of the way at any cost.

A few days ago he had come to know Dhamasaan Kudi's biggest weakness... Her super-sensitive nose. Whenever Dhamasaan Kudi smelt strongly offensive smells, it made her lose most of her powers and her strength was rendered ineffective.

That's why the cruel Virussata had come up with this sinister idea of making people crap in their pants, thus adding a lot of foul smell all around the place.

Throughout the ordeal, Dhamasaan Kudi kept working feverishly. She had to search for a solution quickly.. After nine hours of tireless efforts, Dhamasaan Kudi came up with a minor breakthrough. She prepared a formulation that could stop people from dirtying their pants. She named the stuff "Pant-T", for Pant-Troubleshoot. Whoever took a Pant-T, would immediately feel relieved and the rate of crapping would reduce. But there was a problem at hand.... [Someone provide a problem and solution please! ]

Now, Dhamasaan Kudi had to think of a way to undo all the damage that the rapid production of poop had inflicted, all around the place. She got down to work again and soon enough, came up with another brainwave of an idea! She named her new invention - "Unn-Dee", to undo the ills of the foul stench unleashed by Dusht Virussata's virus Skank.

(Damn, I am bored... Someone continue this shit....)

-HK
1:10 am; 30th August '08

Shitsvilla!

2008-08-26T23:10:00.003+05:30

"Reality Shows" (Be patient and please don't groan.. I know everyone seems to be discussing this shit nowadays, but I promise to keep you well-humoured right till the end of this post!) seem to be the in-thing nowadays. Right from Kaun Banega Crorepati, which brought in a refreshing change from the ubiquitous saas-bahu sagas; to MTV Roadies which changed the way the youth in India think (!) today; these reality shows seem to have everyone - old and young alike, hooked to them.

One such "reality show" MTV Splitsvilla, caught my attention of late (Yes, I owe an explanation for this. I implore you to be patient and read on till the end). The show revolves around 20 lasses (or rather, lasses with... er.. I leave that to your imagination) vying for the attention (did someone say love?) of two ~~dorks~~ guys; who in the process, do anything that they can think (?) of. The aim of the show (as the promoters claim) is to search for true love (through a reality show eh? what crap!).

What I make of it and what is obvious is, that the show had been planned with the sole aim of drawing as many eyeballs as possible. And why not! Twenty wanna(ba)bes.. Two lame-a*$ed guys who toss around these girls as if they were no better than their used underwear.. A dumb anchor with a dysfunctional wardrobe, who the gals (and a few guys too!) feel is "oh-so-cool".. Lots of skin on offer.. Isn't this the perfect recipe for boosting a channel's TRP rating?

MTV India has indeed succeeded in its efforts! There is no dearth of dumb-arsed testosterone-driven males in India, who have the time to watch any shit that is dished out before them. The sleazier the skin-show, the better. Yet for completely queer reasons, it is the female population that seems to be more interested in the show!

Someone rightly christened the television the "idiot box". In doing perfect justice to this age-old term, MTV India came up with the brilliant idea of Splitsvilla.

Where love is war... screams the tag line of the show. And again, WHAT CRAP? I wonder what kind of people MTV India recruits, to draft the content for their shows. To put it in a nutshell, Splitsvilla is a game of bitching, betrayal, back-biting, sex, politics, deceit, lust and all such words that one would generally see together only on the rear cover of a Sidney Sheldon novel! For a major part of the time that the camera rolls, the soundtrack is a cacophony of bleeps, which makes the viewing experience all the more repulsive. One need not be too brainy to deduce that, the show is stage-managed by the production crew, so as to make it look as glamorous (read stupid) as possible. I am reminded of the WWF fights which I was forbidden from watching as a kid. Weren't those fights also beautifully orchestrated, so as to arouse viewer interest? That the young viewers today don't comprehend this, speaks volumes of the mental level of the target audience. MTV India indeed seems to have taken idiotizing the youth to an altogether new level!

Amidst all this shit, what makes me ponder is, weren't these contestants taught something called moral science at school? Or forget moral science, didn't their parents ever realize that they were responsible for inculcating the right values in their daughters? Weren't they ever told about "self respect"? The behaviour of the girls on air, reveals a great deal about the kind of upbringing that they have come through.

Moreover, I see a great deal of hypocrisy involved with the format of the show. I used to believe ( and I still do) that I had a progressive and ahead-of-my-time outlook towards most things, but after ~~watching~~ reading about Splitsvilla, I feel like an ancient soul! It is outrageous to imagine guys walking into girls' rooms at the oddest hours and behaving as if there's nothing wrong with it. Is this how the youth think today, or am I plain old-fashioned? I remember our stay during the TechFest at IIT Mumbai, back in Jan '07 when we got the shock of our lives to wake up one morning to see a few girls sitting in the room that we were putting up in!

Now before you get really restless, I'll come to why I decided to write about all this crap. Quite by ~~puke~~ fluke (all this writing really makes me feel like barfing, this very moment), I happened to meet a Splitsvilla contestant yesterday evening. I prefer not to disclose her name, since I don't mean to defame her, and more so because the gal has already experienced her share of humiliation and disgrace. That I met her in Nagpur, should be enough for the over-zealous to delve deep. Guys, who are curious about how she looked, well.. She failed to elicit a second glance from me.

What made things funny was that, I had absolutely no idea that the girl who I met, had been a contestant on the MTV show. It was after this experience that I realized what "being blissfully unaware" actually meant! And to make matters worse (for the poor girl, of course!) I (unintentionally) made our conversation a forgettable experience for her. Well within our 70-second rendezvous, I managed to give her the feeling that the English she was speaking, was grossly incorrect; and that the annoying accent that she was trying to ape, was doing no good to conceal her apparent lack of knowledge of the language! So much for playing wannabe! These characters are far from being "real". Poor girl! No wonder she was "dumped" out of the show!!

-HK
11:10 pm; 26th August '08

A New Look for my Webspace!

2008-08-23T22:41:00.008+05:30

I would like to thank my dear friend Shubhada profusely, for recommending the template website to me today morning! Thanks to her (and to Shantanu too, let's give him credit for having discovered the site!), I can now boast of having a slick and swanky web page!

The new template is simple, has 2-columns (as I always prefer), doesn't have gaudy graphics or annoying fonts faces, yet looks very elegant! It's quite close to being the kind of template I was searching for~!

Owing to the switch in templates, I lost all my customized widget settings. It'll take me a while to sort out those issues, and get back my blog to the state it was in earlier. Moreover, I need to play around with the XML source of the template to sort out issues pertaining to spacing and text-formatting.

All said and done, I am extremely delighted with the new look of my blog! Thanks once again, Shubhi and Shantanu! :)

-HK
10:40 pm; 23rd August '08

What does Nagpur city lack?

2008-08-20T12:30:00.004+05:30

Within a relatively short span of around fifteen years, we have seen if not thousands, hundreds of IT-sector companies mushrooming up in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. Rightly so, Bangalore is called the IT-hub, or the Silicon Valley of India. Chennai and Mangalore have played "fringe-players" to Bangalore, in the sense that over the years, the IT industries spilled over to these cities, owing to their proximity to Bangalore.

The perpetual infrastructure crunch has meant that, cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore have developed vertically and horizontally. Real estate prices in these cities have already gone through the roof. Acquiring a piece of land within the city is next to impossible. For people staying in these cities, long distances, traffic hold-ups, long hours of conveyance by road et al have become a common feature of their daily routines. People work in a certain area of the city and stay in another part of the city that is 15 to 20 kilometres away. They spend on an average 2 hours daily in commuting.

In fact, the airport at Hyderabad is 25 kilometres from the city centre at Begumpet. The new airport built at Devanahalli is 40 kilometres away from Bangalore city! Incidentally, a cousin of mine flew from Nagpur to Bangalore a couple of days ago. Her flight duration was 90 minutes and it took her 120 minutes to reach her home from the airport by taxi! So much for staying in a large metropolis!

Owing to over-crowding in tier-1 cities, which led to an infrastructure bottleneck, IT companies started seeking space in tier-2 cities, for opening new offices. Cities like Chandigarh, Noida, Gurgaon, Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Mysore, Jaipur, Nagpur etc. have been on their radar since quite a while. Over the last decade, major IT giants including Infosys, Wipro, TCS, IBM and Satyam have established their presence in most of these cities. Moreover, Bhubaneshwar has been portrayed as the next big IT destination. The city has definitely leap-frogged others in terms of growth and development!

Amidst this mad rush, one thing that makes me wonder is WHY hasn't the software industry flourished in Nagpur? Why does Nagpur still not boast of housing offices of any of the major IT giants? These questions have been nagging me since quite some months now. After all, What is it that Nagpur lacks?

One thing worth pondering is that, is the infrastructure in Nagpur really up to the mark? Are the public utilities in Nagpur, in place and functioning efficiently? The city has been witnessing unprecedented shortage of power since the last few years. Can any industry survive without an uninterrupted supply of power? Of late, supply of industrial and vehicle fuel too has dipped sharply. Security throughout the country is a joke. (A joke on the common man, mind you.) Local policing is weak, and petty crimes and crimes against women and the old are rampant. There are no places of interest in the city to keep the youth hooked; and in my humble opinion, Telangkhedi lake-side and Walkers' Street do NOT qualify as places of interest.

Fortunately, at the turn of the century, we had a visionary and efficient public servant, Dr. T. Chandrashekhar as the Municipal Commissioner of Nagpur. Through meticulous planning, Dr. Chandrashekhar effected a complete makeover for the city, within a short span of five years. He overcome financial obstacles, and worked hard to provide the city with futuristic state-of-the-art infrastructure. Thanks to Dr Chandrashekhar, Nagpur today boasts of beautiful, wide roads; improved water supply and sewage disposal system and a lavish cover of green all over the city.

So to say, Nagpur boasts of having the best possible infrastructure needed to woo industrialists to come and set up base. Being situated in the centre of the country, Nagpur is well connected by air, railway and roads with all major cities in India. Of late, quite a few International sector flights are also being operated from Nagpur. Bi-weekly flights connect Nagpur to Bangkok, Doha, Dubai and Sharjah.

Moreover, the international airport is situated within the city. The development of a Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) promises to open the floodgates for business opportunists throughout the country and beyond. A proposed SEZ that is being developed adjacent to the airport, shall boast of world-class infrastructure, once completed. The Special Economic Zone shall provide top-notch facilities for business houses to set up manufacturing units in various sectors including food processing, health care, textiles, engineering, IT, pharmaceuticals, etc.

MIHAN - Changing the face of Nagpur!

If the scenario appears to be so rosy, then what is it that stops Nagpur from making a mark in India's IT circles? It would be unfair to say that Nagpur does not have a presence of IT companies. Nagpurpulse.com enlists 74 IT start-ups operating from the city. These companies collectively provide employment to a few thousand professionals from the city and adjoining areas. But why is it that young graduates don't find working in Nagpur lucrative enough?

It is indeed hypocritical of me to rant on this aspect. I am a Computer Science Engineering fresher by education. I was recruited by Tech Mahindra in an on-campus interview in Jan '07. I will be joining Tech Mahindra at Pune sometime next month. Personally, I would not prefer to begin my career in Nagpur. The reasons are plenty. Firstly, the pay packages in Nagpur are far less (almost 15 to 20%) than pay packages offered to freshers in Pune/ Bangalore. Secondly, growth opportunities in the IT sector in Nagpur are very less. Over a span of 3-4 years, a young IT professional cannot expect a radical shift in his professional role. This is primarily because companies in Nagpur are still in their infancy. Thirdly, availability of senior managers has been a major challenge, since people who have worked for 4-5 years in a large city, don't prefer shifting to Nagpur. Thus these companies aim at developing their own experienced loyal associates over a period of time. Moreover, the current industry scenario in Nagpur doesn't provide enough opportunities for professionals to switch jobs in search of better pays or more challenging roles. All in all, Nagpur city doesn't go down too well with young graduates (including yours truly) as a suitable place to settle in and build a career. Maybe the scenario could change (for the better) if a few big names from the IT sector decide to set up base in Nagpur.

What we are observing today is a vicious cycle. The industries would get interested in this city, if they are promised proper amenities by the civic authorities; and if they discover appropriate local talent to recruit. Local graduates, on the other hand, would get interested, if they are assured of a healthy job scenario. Now what exactly happens earlier, and when; is left to be seen.

-HK
12:30 pm; 20th August '08

Also read:

All that you need to know about MIHAN

Nagpur: Next IT destination?

The "perfect" outing...

2008-08-09T11:20:00.006+05:30

"Hey ppl what say for a picnic on 6th? I have seen a spot similar to JTYJN picnic spot...!", read Vishesh's SMS that he sent on 2nd August. The lukkha that I am nowadays, I agreed to be a part of the picnic group, still sceptical about how JTYJN-ish the picnic spot would be. "...there will be waterside but we can't swim..can just play around.." That was what Vishesh's next message informed me when I asked about where the spot was. Although that didn't really bring down my scepticism, I still looked forward to go.

Finally, on 6th, eight of us "Lukkha-engineers" - Vishesh, Mohtaji, Harshad, Shubhi, Deeps, GG, Jyo and me, went to this "picnic spot", which turned out to be a place just adjacent to the Koradi Thermal Power Station. "What should we call this place?", asked Deepali, when we were sitting there, enjoying the scenery. Let's call it "KPV... Koradi Plant View", someone quipped. So KPV, the place was christened! I later came to know that the place was part of a village called Suradevi.

A little more about the place... The spot itself, didn't have anything too special about it. It was just about another place...Greenery all around... And lots of rocks here and there... There was a steady drizzle when we left from Mohtaji's place, but it stopped by the time we were there. The constant grey cloud cover, coupled with a strong breeze ensured that we had a comfortable time there. We reached by around 2:30 in the afternoon, roamed around for a while, clicked snaps, played games, hogged down snacks, clicked more photos and Bakar-ed all along!

We had taken along cards/ board games to pass time there. Harshad brought along his game of business, but forgot to get the board!!! So we just had the currency notes, tokens, and decks of playing cards. That is when the thought of playing "Teen Patti" struck us!

The child-like interest and enthusiasm with which Gupta and Harshad counted and distributed currency notes of "Bank of Children", really made a funny sight to watch!! :D

The gals weren't familiar to Teen Patti, so it took us time to get them acquainted with the finer points of the game. The next hour or so, was fun with jargon like "pack", "blind", "show" et al being thrown all around!!

On the whole, it was a superb day.... The perfect day for having fun after having spent so many days in utter boredom. Where we went, didn't matter at the end of the day. What we did there, would be forgotten in due course of time. What I'll remember, probably forever; is the awesome time I had that day! Looking back, it just makes me ponder: that being with the right kind of people at the right time can result in magic! Then NOTHING else matters!!

-HK
11:20 am, 9th August '08

Despair..Dejection.. And a glimmer of hope..

2008-08-05T15:41:00.010+05:30

The verdict has been passed. The Bombay High Court refused to give permission to abort the 26-week old foetus with a congenital heart disorder, after it rejected the plea to terminate pregnancy, filed by the young mother Mrs. Niketa Mehta.

Mr. Haresh and Mrs. Niketa Mehta after the verdict was passed by the Bombay High Court. (Photo courtesy: TOI)

With the ruling that the the Hon. High Court has passed, the path ahead seems to be bleak for the Mehtas, and the innocent life which the mother is gestating. I extend my sympathy to the young couple, which has been done in by the strange, outdated laws; which the courts in India "can only interpret but not make them".

The decision was also majorly influenced by the Medical Report that was submitted (and re-submitted) by the J J Hospital committee. How a glaring typographical error occurred on the part of the committee, is for the Dean to explain.

But the verdict has resulted in heartbreak for the Mehta couple and their doctor Dr. Nikhil Datar; who had filed a petition to make amendments in the existing Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. The present law does not take into consideration, the risk to life of the new-born baby and thus requisite legal measures are not in place.

Even the Abortion Act 1967 in United Kingdom, has a clause which stresses on the "substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped." According to their laws, beyond the 24th week of pregnancy, there is a provision wherein after consulting doctors and experts, and if there is a “significant risk” to the foetus, an abortion can be carried out. A similar amendment is required with immediate effect, in the MTP Act, 1971. In medico-legal matters in India, the health of the foetus is at no point in time given consideration during pregnancy. It is as if a foetus is considered to be "lifeless" until the time of delivery, when it is brought into this world and "given life"

According to law (MTP Act), abortion can be carried out, if foetal defects are detected within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. The defect in case of Mrs. Niketa Mehta was detected by her doctor in the 24th week of pregnancy, thus making the option of abortion an illegal one. The doctors argued that the defect in the foetus's heart could not be detected before it had developed sufficiently, until she was 24 weeks into pregnancy. Since I don't have any knowledge about how pre-natal tests are conducted, I would appreciate if medical professionals/ gynaecologists could contribute to this topic.

The couple, in a way was correct in it's appeal for abortion that they didn't want to bring in a life in this world that would be plagued by illness and physical disorders, and whose survival would always be at stake. I was surfing the Internet, for similar stories/material when I came across excerpts from a book named "The Ethics Of Artificial Uteruses" by Stephen Coleman. In the book, Coleman speaks about the foetus as a living as well as a non-living entity. He further justifies the decision to abort pregnancy, if the prenatal tests detect a foetal defect, which could threaten the baby's survival after birth. "This decision of abortion is clearly to prevent the coming into existence of a child whose prospects (of survival) in life are poor", says Coleman in his book. He further says that the thought behind such a decision (of abortion) is that the child would be better off not existing, rather than existing with whatever defect has been detected. Although contrary, an interesting theory in this respect has been put forward by Mr. David Benatar, philosophy professor and author of a research study - "Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence". Read more about it here and here. His pleasure / pain theory really makes an interesting and thought-provoking read.

The door has been shut on the Mehtas who have been left with no option but to bring into this world a baby which might have severe disabilities. There might be extreme risk involved in in the survival of the baby, after birth.

As Dr. Datar later said, this legal battle shall help in increasing awareness about the lacunae that exist in the present laws and the need for making amendments to Section 5 of the MTP Act, 1971. The issue of the quality of life after birth, still rages on. The law needs amendment, and the legislators need to get their act together quickly.

Mr. and Mrs. Mehta, you are not alone. The need of the hour is to collectively raise a voice... A voice so loud that it should shake our legislators out of their slumber, and make them act upon this issue, so that no one in the future will have to undergo the excruciating trauma and mental stress that Mr. Haresh and Mrs. Niketa are going through.

I pray to the Almighty for successful delivery of the baby, and I implore Him to bestow the baby (and the parents) with immense strength to overcome the ordeal and triumph against all odds. Amen.

-HK.
3:40 pm, 5th August '08

Dazed..And confused..And feeling low too... :(

2008-08-04T22:56:00.003+05:30

Things have been moving really slowly since the past few days. I haven't been able to complete all that I started writing... The past couple of days have been funny - high on emotions and sentiments..I'll probably remember these days for the rest of my life...

Rupal left for Georgia early today morning. It's now that I realize how fast time has flown away... :( I spent the entire day today, remembering all the fun we had had, during the time that we had spent together...

Every minute we spent together, right from our first year days to the moment I bid her farewell at the airport last night, came up before my eyes...It has indeed been a roller-coaster, fun-filled ride!!

Rupal, here's wishing you the very best for all your future pursuits. Go where your heart takes you, and I am sure you will reach the pinnacle of success in life...!! Looking forward to meeting you again very soon!

I'm going to miss you a lot Pal!
Rock on.. Smile on.. Take life head-on!! :) :)

CHEERS!!

-HK
10:30 pm, 4th August '08

Saluting the spirit!

2008-07-30T21:23:00.003+05:30

I have been to CCD (Cafe Coffee Day, for slow pokes) umpteen number of times. Right since my days in college (and beyond college too!), CCD has been like a second home. With Bhaskar, Gaurav, Santa and sometimes Sid, Mondal and Swapnil for company, the CCDs in Nagpur at PC, Maitree, Pratap Nagar and VCA (in declining order of our frequenting them) saw many a Bakar sessions take place amongst us!

"Anything can happen over a cup of coffee!"

We re-interpreted the punch-line of CCD according to our convenience and indeed did anything that we could think of! Be it planning strategies for stuff related to Installations, Pratishruti or other SRC events; or preparing theories for Tech Fest, or even studying for exams, CCD was the common venue for all our activities! CCD was indeed like a second home for us!

So, when we (Me, Gaurav and Abhishek) were faced with the ever-confusing question of "Ab kahan jaaye?" after we took our E-litmus test, and were later turned out from Cafe Good Luck (?!) we happily walked to the CCD nearby!

The ambience there was as inviting and comfortable as it has always been. PC or Fergusson College Road, we didn't find much difference. CCD was always going to be our own! The waiter manning the outlet, smiled, kept a menu card in front of us and walked away. We continued with our bakar.. A while later I gestured to the waiter to come over and take our order.

"One Irish Coffee..." I started giving instructions...He gestured back, trying to interrupt me.. I thought he couldn't listen to my instructions over the volume of the songs being played. "One Irish Coffee...", I repeated, louder this time. He gestured again, asking me to point out in the menu card what I wanted. It is then that I realized that the waiter was deaf and mute. My heart immediately went out for him..

It is then that I started thinking... What unbeatable attitude and spirit the young man had! He had indeed overcome all odds in life to be in the position that he was in today. And the way he was going about his task, he seemed to be man at peace with himself, and his work. He was comfortably managing the needs of close to 25 young customers. What was worth appreciating was that he was the only waiter managing things there, at that time. Even the CCD outlet at PC Nagpur, which is spread over an area less than half the area of the CCD outlet we were sitting in, has 4 to 5 waiters working at a time! This young man was doing his job very efficiently, indeed!

I was really impressed with the ease with which the guy went around with his job. In spite of all his shortcomings, he is leading a perfectly normal life! Talk of self-respect, and the man had earned loads of it! He could give a normal person some serious complex!

An hour later, I walked down home, thinking of the waiter at CCD and all that he had taught me. He taught me how to lead life with a smile. He taught me to not crib for every small thing that doesn't go the way you want it to. He taught me how hard work can work wonders. He taught me how one can get on and face life, even when a thousand things are trying to pull you down with all their might. He taught me how to let one's work do the talking. And last but not the least, he taught me how to win someone's respect without uttering a single word! Hats off to you, young man!!

-HK
12:38 am 28th July '08.